Madge, hand shaming for over a quarter century
Ted Bates Advertising's creation for Palmolive and the actress that played her for 27 years
Today’s hed gif is from a 1978 advertisement for Palmolive dish-washing liquid, starring Jan Miner as wise-cracking manicurist Madge. Miner played Madge for 27 years, from 1966 to 1992. While she had a long and varied career in entertainment—with acting credits in radio, television, film and theater—her portrayal of Madge is likely her most beloved and best remembered. Madge’s catch phrase, “You’re soaking in it” is an oft-repeated refrain in modern pop culture.
Jan Miner was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1917. She attended Boston’s Vesper George School of Art and then studied theater acting with Lee Strasberg. She made her stage debut in a Boston production of “Street Scene” by Elmer Rice in 1945. By the 1950’s, Miner had established herself as an established radio actress, appearing in several productions, including from 1945 to 1949 as a lead character Mary Wesley for “Boston Blackie.” You can listen to some of her work from that show below.
Miner would later reprise the role of Mary Wesley in the television production of “Boston Blackie” and would appear in reoccurring roles on television for characters she’d previously voiced on the radio. She was a frequent guest in a wide variety of TV series, including an appearance in “Law and Order” in 1994. Throughout her active career, she appeared on a multitude of Broadway stages and in other theater productions. Her IMDB profile lists at least ten big-screen and television movie credits to her name, including in “Lenny” with Dustin Hoffman and “Mermaids” with Cher.
However, the most lucrative work of her oeuvre came from her long-running time as manicurist Madge in the Palmolive ads. In the advertisement, customers would enter Madge’s beauty shop, lamenting the state of their hands; Madge would slide a bowl of the magic elixir of gentleness over and soak her customer’s paws, explaining to her incredulous patrons that they were in fact luxuriating in dish-washing liquid. Miner recalled in a 1972 interview with the Boston Globe that she won the role after deciding that instead of trying to compete with “a million girls, all 17 and strictly gorgeous” she’d clown it up a bit. Her wise-cracking, mirthful ad-libs appealed to the casting director, who decided immediately that she’d be the perfect Madge.
As Madge, Miner was internationally recognized. She appeared in Palmolive commercials on televisions in France (where Madge was renamed “Françoise”), Germany, Switzerland, Austria (her name was “Tilly” in those countries), Finland (as “Marissa”), Denmark and Italy. While not fluent in French, German, Danish or Italian, Miner learned her lines phonetically for foreign appearances. Interestingly, while no dubbing or phonetic memorization would have been necessary in the English-speaking countries of Australia and New Zealand, Palmolive used a different actress to play “Madge.” In any event, so affiliated was Miner with the character that in airports, even internationally, people would wave their hands at her and yell out Madge’s catch phrase: "You’re soaking it it!”
Never shying away from the role of Madge nor afraid of being “typecast” as such a recognizable character, Miner said she was blessed to have been given the opportunity of a lifetime, one that gave her financial security that enabled her to pick the stage roles she wanted. She never regretted her time as the iconic Madge. Miner passed away in 2004, having been in failing health for several years. She was 86.
Washington Post: “Madge, Hands-Down A Cultural Winner” by Hank Stuever, 2/18/04
She's Mary in Boston Blackie, huh? I had no idea. I'll have to check to see when Radio Classics is running that show again and pay closer attention to it.
Goodness, I feel steeped in nostalgia. When I was a kid watching television was my big "vice" and I remember Madge and Palmolive very well. Jan Miner made the character memorable even as she was insulting her customers' hands. Thanks Martini, this was fun.